Friday, 28 February 2014

Skewered and other London Cruelties.

I first encountered Ben Jones on a now defunct horror
writers forum. As is the case with many forums, despite the membership being in
triple figures, there were only a few members who actually spent any time
posting stuff up there. I was one and Ben was another and through the board we
developed a virtual friendship as we both seemed to be singing from the same
hymn-sheet as far as most of the discussions were concerned. That friendship
moved from virtual to real when work would occasionally take me down to London –
Ben’s home town - where we finally met up in person and spent many an evening talking
about our shared enthusiasm for writing (and reading) as well as generally
putting the world to rights. Alcohol may have been involved at some point.

The forum had a board where stories could be posted up for
comment so I’d read a lot of Ben’s work before I’d met him and had been
impressed by what I’d seen. It was clear he was destined for success and over
the years he’s achieved that with publications in the small presses. It
was only a matter of time before a collection was released and now that’s
happened with Skewered and other London Cruelties
from Crime Wave Press.

To celebrate the release of the collection, I thought I’d
abuse the relationship we have by asking Ben a few questions about it and his
thoughts on writing in general:

AW: The collection
opens with Skewered , a novella which
has plenty twists and turns. Did you have the ending sorted before you started
writing and then work backwards from it or did the story develop as you were
writing it?

BJ: Well, I had some of it sorted. In the early drafts a
large portion of the end of “Skewered” was actually at the start as Charlie
Bars explains how he’s ended up in a certain situation. I had a general idea of
where I wanted the story to go but nothing was set in stone. That’s probably
how I write a lot of the time; I’ll have a blurry idea for an ending and hope
it becomes clearer as I work towards it.

AW: Real Estate also features your character
Charlie Bars – and I know you have plans to feature him again. Did you ever
consider writing a crime story from the perspective of the police?

BJ: I’ve written things from a police perspective before,
but none of them have seen print. Although they’re usually not your ‘straight
arrow’ type of copper. On the whole though I prefer to try and write from a
different angle. I’m a big fan of certain crime novels that come from the view
of the police; Chester Himes’ “Harlem Cycle”, Ken Bruen’s “R n B” novels but I
feel that it is too easy to fall into clichés which we see time and time again.
I don’t think I’d rule out writing from any perspective but I think if I was to
be from the police angle then I would have to be struck by something that I
considered ‘different’. Although, that said, I am about to re-draft a horror
piece about a group of corrupt London police officers being pursued by
creatures summoned by West African witchcraft – does that count?

AW: I think it probably does, it could even be the start of a new sub-genre. You once pointed
out to me the spot where a taxi driver had been beheaded… How important is
location to you – do you regard London as a character in your stories?

BJ: I remember, suicide by beheading – not sure that’s the best way to go! Odd little macabre stories seem to crop up all over the city, and in other towns, cities and places I am sure. Sense of place and location is massively important to me. I’d like to think I manage to catch the city as a character but I’m not sure I always do. For me London is an ancient, living entity that has its own habits, strange rites and most importantly stories to tell. So many of my stories have been given to me by the city, in things I’ve heard, seen and read that it would be rude not to try and pay homage in some fashion. I really that capturing the city’s character is something I will be able to do more in the future.

AW: I know you’re a
big fan of historical settings for your stories and I’m guessing that’s part of
the appeal of writing your westerns. Do you enjoy the research that’s required
to make them authentic?

BJ: Even when I was younger it irked me watching a western
set during the American Civil War and everyone was carrying 1873 Colt
Peacemakers or other firearms from two decades after the Civil War was over! So
in terms of that I do try and make sure things are ‘correct’. A lot of the
research books I read are things I read for pleasure anyway so I like to think
it’s all just knowledge and enjoyment and if it gets used in a story then so be
it but if it doesn’t then I’ll have enjoyed learning it. The other thing with
reading, what some might term, ‘research’ books are the amount of story germs
and ideas that you stumble across.

AW: Hungry is the Dark has supernatural
overtones to it and I know you also write horror fiction. What’s your take on
the current state of the horror genre?

BJ: It seems people have been saying this for years but I
believe it’s going through a real revival. Horror novels are once again pushing
into the mainstream with people like Adam Nevill and Alison Littlewood’s books
being easily available and in the public eye. The quality and variance of
styles across the genre is also at a peak. Plus with new small presses like
Crystal Lake Publishing really pushing forward it seems like a great time to be
a horror fan.

AW: You also write
westerns. Do you go through phases, moving between genres, or is it a case
finding the best vehicle for a particular story?

BJ: Normally the genre and story come to me at the same time
or I’ll start thinking about wanting to write, say, a western today. But I do
seem to run in phases knocking out a couple of stories in each genre at a time.
With the fact that I do mix genres in can get a bit blurred… for example most
of my westerns do have elements of horror in them so it isn’t a massive leap to
move to a straight horror piece and then because a lot of my non-western
fiction is London based stepping from a ghost tale into a dark crime story
isn’t, again, a huge jump.

AW: What’s your
writing process? Do you just spill all the words out onto the page and then
edit and refine or do you edit as you go?

BJ: Well I think it has changed over the years. These days I
like to draw up a little plan and then plough through a first draft, sometimes
long hand but mainly straight onto computer now. Then I’ll print it, have a
read adding edits by hand and then redraft. After that it will either get
drafted again or I’ll send it to a few people to read over and see what they
think. Now and then, of course, I’ll deviate from this process perhaps because
an idea strikes me and I want to see where it will take me or I’m trying to go
with a ‘train of thought’ style piece.

AW: Have you any
plans to write a novel? I think the shorter formats work best with horror but
could definitely see the potential for a Charlie Bars – or even a Tomahawk Val
western – novel from your good self…

BJ: I agree in terms of horror – a truly terrifying horror
novel is a rare beast indeed. I am working on something longer in the horror
genre but that is more a collection of shorts dealing with overarching themes
and ideas. There is a Charlie Bars novel in the embryonic stage at present –
I’m hoping to really get going on it in the next few months. I’ve just finished
a horror western novella which I enjoyed writing immensely and have an idea for
a ‘straight’ western that might be a novella or might be something a little bit
bigger… Tomahawk Val is rather strange as he’s a character that came into being
in a story that hasn’t even been picked up yet! So I have two long shorts,
another half-finished and a shorter piece about him. The idea is that once more
of this stuff has been published and I’ve written a lot more I’d like to try
and put together ‘The Ballad of Tomahawk Val’, but as always we’ll see what
happens.

*

My thanks to Ben for taking the time to answer all my questions.

Skewered and other
London Cruelties is a brilliant collection of hard-hitting crime stories
with a lovingly created sense of noir and the odd supernatural flourish. It’s a
great showcase for a talented writer who is destined for bigger things to come. You can, and should, buy it here.